Chapter 665: Tombs (1/2)
Chapter 665 Tombs
They appeared in the crevice leading to the Penumra dungeon, Feyrair and Pierce joining them a few seconds later, no longer fighting.
Both were clad in armor and seemed calm and collected.
Professional idiots, Ilea mused, smiling to herself as she glanced at the locator. Nothing nearby of course but they had a direction to go on.
Two Elders and a Cerithil hunter, Ilea thought, looking at the waiting group.
“Where to bosswoman?” Pierce asked.
“Follow the arrow. How’s your lightning survivability? I know Fey and Pierce can manage,” Ilea said, glancing at Verena.
“I should be able to manage. Let me get used to it,” the woman said, flames spreading over her form as she ascended towards the cliff side above, dark clouds moving past above.
“Will she be fine?” Ilea asked.
Pierce chuckled. “Ah the young and unfaithful. If you didn’t exist, I’d say she’s the toughest human I know.”
“Not exactly an accomplishment,” Feyrair said, ignored by both women.
Ilea appeared above, spreading her wings as a bolt of arcane lightning struck her form, the energy slowly spreading through her body without leaving any lasting damage, the light burns healed in moments. She watched as Verena hovered upwards, energy gathering in the clouds before she was hit directly.
Her chest burst open as half her torso burnt up, gurgling noises resounding as a tinge of red mixed in with her fiery flames. Muscles flexed as the burnt and torn tissue regained its color, knitting itself together by what looked like sheer will.
“It’s quiet a gruesome sight, I think that’s why she doesn’t show it to too many people,” Pierce said. “Also I guess she has to get naked, kind of.” She glanced over at Ilea. “Are you turned on by this?”
Ilea glanced between Pierce and the regenerating Elder, another strike hitting the burning and flying form, this time leaving considerably less damage in its wake.
“I don’t think so, no,” Ilea said, watching pieces of flesh splatter against the stone ground below.
“Would have been fitting, but I suppose not all heroes can be legends,” the woman sighed.
“Effective,” Feyrair commented as he joined them, burning wings on his back.
Verena flew over a few seconds later, dull red runes now visible on her body, most of her features somewhat obscured by burning flames. “I’m good to go,” she said, her voice slightly deeper, with a distinct whispering backdrop.
“Now that’s pretty hot,” Ilea admitted, glancing over at pierce as she refocused on the locator.
“Breaking news, Lilith sexually attracted to burning tattooed women. Well I can’t blame you, V, you look downright smoldering,” Pierce mused.
“Are you done?” the elder asked in a calm voice. It had not been the first time she had to deal with Pierce.
“I’ll take these two, or do you want to carry us all?” Ilea asked, looking at Pierce.
“What an honor, alas my ability will not allow for such feats. My flight is rather, delicate. Balancing four people, especially people of such… political… weight, would pose an issue,” she explained.
Ilea grinned. “Then I’ll carry these two,” she said, her ashen limbs extending as she charged her wings, aiming to stay somewhat low in the northern landscape, hoping to avoid whatever creatures dwelled far above the storms and clouds.
A moment later, they shot away, Pierce a mere streak of lightning forging on ahead, the group shooting over the barren northern landscape with incredible momentum.
Ilea kept an eye on the locator, adjusting the trajectory, occasionally going higher to avoid extensive outcrops of stone or outright mountains. No local creatures they saw braved the northern storms, either unable or not interested in the small and fast moving prey. Despite the fast travel, the group was struck by occasional arcane lightning, Ilea simply flying through the clouds as she was both unwilling and unable to dodge with her charged wings. Her resilience was supposedly increased greatly anyway, and in the worst case, she had displacement and phaseshift to figure something out.
About half an hour later, Ilea started to see distant magical impacts within some of the crevices, unlike what most of the wild creatures in the area tended to use in their hunts. She slowed down to observe, her eyes barely able to make out the distant spells.
“What do you see?” Verena asked, her body still clad in the same flames and covered in runic tattoos. Whatever her spell, it didn’t seem to be short lived.
“Sapient beings I think, fighting or hunting something,” she said and paused. “Fighting. Both sides, if there are only two, are using targeted spells.”
“Want to butt in?” Pierce asked.
Ilea checked the locator, which led them further north east. “No, just thought it curious.”
She grabbed the others again and continued the flight, assuming they had stumbled upon a battle between the forces of the Dark Protector and the Feynor. Either way, they had their own reason for being here and continued to follow the guidance of their derivative Taleen technology.
Night soon came over the northern landscape, mists forming on the ground and flowing down into the many fissures and crevices. Ilea slowed as she watched the serene dance of the Miststalkers resume, the locator now pointing behind them and to one mountain between dozens more. Nothing about it seemed out of the ordinary. In the north that was, the jagged edges and occasionally charred surface a staple amidst the storms, both for landscape and fauna.
“Down there,” she said, leisurely crossing the rest of the distance as she kept an eye out for any monster or Feynor ambushes. This was farther north than Ilea had ever been, excluding perhaps her short visit in the home of the Fae, but that mountain peak could’ve just as well been a separate realm for all she knew.
The others fanned out a little, their own abilities surveying the environment as they made landfall near the mountain. No pools of mist reached their location, the distant beings entirely uncaring for the group of adventurers.
“No entrance on this side, not on the surface,” Verena said, her eyes scanning the shadowy mountain side. She whipped her head upwards.
Ilea followed her gaze, seeing a small group of Famine Crows fly past, their attention attracted by the bright light of both Feyrair’s wings, and Verena’s form.
“Let’s try not to attract too much attention to this place,” Ilea said and rushed off, heading straight at the swarm with spreading ashen limbs.
The large birds had a body reaching about one meter in length, their wing span four times that. Leathery skin covered their gray forms as they started teleporting towards their perceived pray.
Ilea impacted the group, space awareness coupled with her precognition allowing her to see where they went with each use of their magic. They didn’t stand a chance, eight of them sliced apart and falling before they had properly circled the ashen form. She teleported through the largest clusters, her ash alone enough to rip through their wings and bodies, screeches resounding as the bulk of their numbers scattered, rushing away from the surprisingly blender like human.
She continued to teleport through their retreating ranks, occasionally preventing some of them to use their skill as she observed her own ability with space awareness. Ilea had stopped her slaughter, simply using the quickly moving and teleporting birds as a source for some space shift training, her only remaining third class skill no yet at the end of the third tier.
“Those are close to four hundred,” Pierce remarked.
“Not worth killing,” Ilea murmured. “Yes. It’s annoying that most monsters just don’t understand what they should and shouldn’t attack.”
“Humans of our power are rare, how would anyone know,” Verena said, the group now flying again, the elder soon pointing out a small crevice leading into the mountain.
Ilea went in first, the locator ahead as she plunged into the darkness, quickly navigating the ancient cracks and tunnels, likely natural or made to look that way. She didn’t much fear tight spaces, but any apprehension she would’ve had evaporated with the existence of her spherical perception, and the knowledge that she could teleport out in most situations. Compared to her companions, she at least had her space magic at her side.
“No traps,” she murmured, letting herself fall into a broad tunnel, her embers the only source of light in the vicinity.
The others joined in the next minute, all finding their way down with more or less issues.
Pierce was the first, having teleported through most everything. “Ominous,” she murmured, a few sparks of lightning traveling over her armor. “Third tier light magic resistance?”
“Yeah, among other abilities, you?” Ilea asked.
“Similar. My lightning travels over surfaces. And I can see nearby mana sources, you for example,” she explained, glancing up. “Already here?”
Feyrair jumped down, hissing at the woman as he looked around, his eyes downright glowing in the dark, wisps of white flame clinging to his armored form. “I believe the last time you rushed into the unknown, you managed to anger a dragon of all things.”
Pierce waved him off. “Ah, that’s so far in the past, it’s hardly worth a mention.”
Verena hovered down, her eyes on fire. The tattoos from before were gone by now, as was the fire covering her whole body.
“This way,” Ilea said and lead them through the darkness, everyone walking through the tunnel as if the sun shone on from above.
“Looks made by something intelligent,” Verena murmured.